Page 175 - LITTLE WOMEN

Little Women

brilliant, picturesque plants as would consent to blossom
there.
Gardening, walks, rows on the river, and flower hunts
employed the fine days, and for rainy ones, they had house

diversions, some old, some new, all more or less original.
One of these was the ‘P.C’, for as secret societies were the
fashion, it was thought proper to have one, and as all of
the girls admired Dickens, they called themselves the
Pickwick Club. With a few interruptions, they had kept
this up for a year, and met every Saturday evening in the
big garret, on which occasions the ceremonies were as
follows: Three chairs were arranged in a row before a table
on which was a lamp, also four white badges, with a big
‘P.C.’ in different colors on each, and the weekly
newspaper called, The Pickwick Portfolio, to which all
contributed something, while Jo, who reveled in pens and
ink, was the editor. At seven o’clock, the four members
ascended to the clubroom, tied their badges round their
heads, and took their seats with great solemnity. Meg, as
the eldest, was Samuel Pickwick, Jo, being of a literary
turn, Augustus Snodgrass, Beth, because she was round
and rosy, Tracy Tupman, and Amy, who was always
trying to do what she couldn’t, was Nathaniel Winkle.
Pickwick, the president, read the paper, which was filled

174 of 861